Friends Seek Transfer To Canadian Custody KEVIN Hiebert celebrates his 33rd birthday today the same way he's marked the previous seven -- from the inside of a Greek prison cell. But friends of the former West Kildonan resident are rallying to support him and generate pressure to get him transferred to Canada to serve out his sentence. Hiebert was arrested in October 1999 at an Athens airport as he tried to smuggle two kilograms of cocaine in the heels of three pairs of shoes. [continues 919 words]
Reserve's Program Isn't Mandatory, Results Posted to Web Before Vote FISHER River Cree Nation has challenged all candidates in their upcoming election to be tested for illegal drug use, with the results posted publicly on the band's website. Testing isn't mandatory, but most candidates running for chief and council in the Aug. 16 election have agreed to submit hair samples, said Fisher River Chief David Crate. "We've been actually discussing this for quite some time with the community," said Crate, who said he's happy with the plan. [continues 513 words]
THE people who are trying to make homes on Magnus Avenue, the scene of a recent spate of violence unusual even by Winnipeg standards, have various explanations for it and offer various suggestions about what might be done to clean up their street and their area. One explanation involves the proliferation of crack houses, another the proliferation of prostitution. Both result, at least in part, from police actions. When the police crack down on drug dens on one street, the dealers and addicts move to another -- the criminal world operates on the law of supply and demand more rigourously than do many legitimate businesses. The same applies to prostitution. You can move the prostitutes and their customers from one street to another, but you cannot remove the supply that one offers and the demand the other makes. [continues 319 words]
Re: War on drugs going to pot, July 13 If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Writing under the pen name Janey Canuck in the early 1900s, an Edmonton woman by the name of Emily Murphy first warned Canadians about the dreaded reefer and its association with dark-skinned minorities. The sensationalist yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst led to marijuana's criminalization in the United States. At the time, marijuana use in North America was limited to Mexican immigrants and black jazz musicians. Whites did not even begin to smoke marijuana until after it was prohibited. [continues 157 words]
I'm writing about Marc Zienkiewicz's thoughtful column "War on drugs going to pot" (July 13). Most drug war cheerleaders proclaim that if marijuana were re-legalized, pot use would skyrocket. I believe that the Netherlands example shows that this probably would not happen. But suppose that pot use did increase. Suppose pot use by adults doubled. Would this necessarily be bad? I submit that it would not. As pot use increases, alcohol use decreases. Most marijuana users don't drink alcohol, but those who do drink alcohol, drink substantially less than non-marijuana users. I believe that most doctors would agree that heavy marijuana use is a lot less harmful than heavy alcohol use. Heavy alcohol use can and does kill. No amount of marijuana use has ever killed anyone. Kirk Muse Mesa, AZ [end]
Dear Editor, I'm writing about Marc Zienkiewicz's thoughtful column: "War on drugs going to pot" (7-13-07). Most drug war cheerleaders proclaim that if marijuana were re-legalized, pot use would skyrocket. I believe that the Netherlands example shows that this probably would not happen. But suppose that pot use did increase. Suppose pot use by adults doubled. Would this necessarily be bad? I submit that it would not. As pot use increases, alcohol use decreases. Most marijuana users don't drink alcohol, but those who do drink alcohol, drink substantially less than non-marijuana users. I believe that most doctors would agree that heavy marijuana use is a lot less harmful than heavy alcohol use. Heavy alcohol use can and does kill. No amount of marijuana use has ever killed anyone. Kirk Muse Mesa, AZ [end]
And She's Not His Only Victim Women who work the streets say they're certain it wasn't a bad john who murdered Aynsley Kinch on the weekend. They say a well-known crack dealer has likely killed her and at least one of the other 17 women slain after disappearing from Winnipeg. The homicides remain unsolved. Kinch's body was found off Murray Avenue in northwest Winnipeg early Sunday morning. Like Crystal Saunders -- whose body was discovered by a trapper near St. Ambroise in April -- Kinch was a drug addict forced to sell her body to supply her habit. [continues 675 words]
Re: War on drugs going to pot, July 13 If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Writing under the pen name Janey Canuck in the early 1900s, an Edmonton woman by the name of Emily Murphy first warned Canadians about the dreaded reefer and its association with dark-skinned minorities. The sensationalist yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst led to marijuana's criminalization in the United States. At the time, marijuana use in North America was limited to Mexican immigrants and black jazz musicians. Whites did not even begin to smoke marijuana until after it was prohibited. Almost one hundred years later, Canada leads the industrialized world in cannabis consumption. Prohibition has been counterproductive at best. [continues 141 words]
I am absolutely blown away with this. I cannot believe that our city of Winnipeg has actually put together a program that supports drug abuse. Granted this was not the initial purpose but still. And its still in affect. Wow, what is this city coming to be. We should be promoting safer streets where bodies won't be found on trails in fields and getting homeless people off of them. Maybe instead of giving out a kit that has a crack pipe in it, give out a kit that has a blanket and bottles of water, and a sandwich. With all the crack pipes being given away to people in hopes of something positive, I'm sure more useful things can be bought or made or supported. Get them working again, get them in a rehabilitation centre. This is a lazy mans way of "fixing a problem." Rebecca Chatel, Winnipeg [end]
Re: Walking backwards into a wall, July 12. Senator Larry Campbell's opinion is right on the mark. I recently witnessed an outstanding and otherwise law-abiding citizen lose his career and see his life put in turmoil because his employer discovered he smoked marijuana. Marijuana use is against the law. Those who choose to use it can suffer serious consequences far disproportionate to their offence. Surely crime-fighting resources can be better spent dealing with real crimes and real criminals that truly threaten us, our families and neighbours. [continues 95 words]
Canada made headlines the world over this week after the release of a United Nations report that shows Canadians use marijuana at four times the world average -- making our country the leader of the industrialized world in cannabis consumption. What makes the study relevant is not the fact that Canadians smoke more marijuana than anyone else in the industrialized world, but rather that marijuana continues to be illegal despite the fact more people than ever are using it and proving that recreational drug use isn't the evil bane of society we're led to believe it is. [continues 817 words]
Canada made headlines the world over this week after the release of a United Nations report that shows Canadians use marijuana at four times the world average -- making our country the leader of the industrialized world in cannabis consumption. What makes the study relevant is not the fact that Canadians smoke more marijuana than anyone else in the industrialized world, but rather that marijuana continues to be illegal despite the fact more people than ever are using it and proving that recreational drug use isn't the evil bane of society we're led to believe it is. [continues 789 words]
Portage-Lisgar MP Brian Pallister is championing a private members bill, to create new offences for production and possession of "precursor" chemicals used to make the drugs. The tools they need Put forward by a Conservative colleague, Pallister said the bill will give police the tools they need to deal with what he calls a growing problem, and not one restricted to big cities. "Crystal Meth is having a disastrous effect on our rural communities," he said. "This bill will help to curb the harmful effects of this drug, especially on our young people." [continues 138 words]
Increase In Pot Convictions Shocking, Wrongheaded If politics is supposed to lead the nation in debate, we're being taken for quite a ride when it comes to pot and the law. Discovering that, in 2006, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax experienced up to 50-per-cent increases in cannabis-related arrests, is like walking backwards into a wall. I hold the former Liberal government responsible for not introducing their decriminalization bill earlier just as much as I blame the Conservatives for killing it when they came to office. [continues 589 words]
THE people of Papua New Guinea smoke more marijuana than Canadians do. So do the residents of Micronesia, Zambia and Ghana. After that, hardly anyone even comes close to matching this country's fondness for having a toot, which Canadians do more than the citizens of any other industrialized nation. In fact, we toke at more than four times the global rate, according to a United Nations survey. This is nothing to be proud of. There are no medals or ribbons for this achievement, if it can be called an achievement. There are, however, plenty of criminal records to be handed out -- more criminal records, in fact, than make any sense. [continues 243 words]
Re: Bail decision shocking, July 10. In response to Justice Karen Simonsen granting bail to Daniell Anderson, who is charged with attempting to murder several police officers, columnist Tom Brodbeck opined that, because of the very serious charges against him, Anderson is "a substantial risk to re-offend." Indeed. Mr. Anderson claims he was trying to drive away home invaders when he blindly fired a shotgun in their general direction through a closed bathroom door, only to learn the invaders were police officers conducting a drug raid when they returned fire, hitting him twice. [continues 54 words]
Blow To Confidence In Justice System I can't understand how a judge could possibly rule that a person charged with two counts of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at police officers does not pose a danger to society. But Queen's Bench Justice Karen Simonsen did last month in the case of Daniell Anderson, who is accused of opening fire on two cops in December during a Jubilee Avenue drug raid. And for that, Simonsen is the latest winner of this column's Eight-Ball Award, handed out to highlight some of the worst perversions of justice in our court system. [continues 496 words]
WINNIPEG police officers were understandably dismayed that the man accused of shooting the officers in December has been released on bail, the judge having been convinced Daniell Anderson was neither a risk to the community or of fleeing. Their abusive comments, however, directed toward the judge are unacceptable and the officers must formally apologize to Court of Queen's Bench Justice Karen Simonsen. The apology should make clear that the Winnipeg Police Service supports the justice system and its administration. Anything short of an apology would leave the impression that at least some of the police service's officers question the credibility of the justice system. The police, like the prosecutors and judges, are servants of the system. The system is not perfect and judges make errors. Ms. Simonsen last week, having heard details in private not available to the public, concluded the community's confidence in the justice system would not suffer as a result of Mr. Anderson's release; an earlier judge felt differently and refused him bail. Officers were left with a keen sense that Mr. Anderson's rights trumped those of the three colleagues shot when they stormed his house, looking for drugs. [continues 279 words]
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